on 2:55 AM

Subsidy on COBRA Health Insurance Premium Gets No Extension from Democrats

If you have been handed that pink slip after June 1, you will see more than just your salary cheque disappear.

That is because, the House of Democrats in the previous week made a decision that no extension will be given to the subsidy on your COBRA health insurance plan, so as to bring the costs of jobs and tax bill down, by winding its way through Congress.

Continuing the terms through Dec. 31 would run on $7.8 billion. The loss of the 15-month financial support leaves hundreds of thousands of newly unemployed Americans to carry the load of health insurance coverage on their own.

On average, the monthly premium unaccompanied eats up almost 84% of a person's redundancy check, according to Families USA, a consumer advocacy group.

Dozens of people at present are getting a lot of benefits from the subsidy wrote, CNNMoney. com, in current days to say how vital it is. Without the additional assistance, they said that they may perhaps not be able to afford to pay for their coverage and their treatments for diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure and other diseases.

House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said on Tuesday that she intends to revisit the COBRA subsidy.

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on 2:54 AM

One in Five Households Do Not Have Home Contents Insurance Reveals Swinton Insurance

MANCHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM - Nearly a fifth of households in the UK do not have home contents insurance according to a survey by Swinton Insurance.

The UK's leading high street retailer of home insurance surveyed 2,573 online customers and found that 18% do not have contents insurance.

The respondents gave a variety of reasons as to why they do not have cover, which leaves households exposed to large replacement costs if they lose items through theft or damage.

The top four reasons for not having any insurance in place are:

--  Too expensive (45%) --  Haven't got round to it (32%) --  It is not a legal requirement (16%) --  Too complicated (7%)

The average value of a household's home contents is around Pounds Sterling 28,000(i) which is mostly made up of clothes, furniture, gadgets and other valuable possessions. This figure would be likely to increase if a household kept antiques or art collections. However, the total value of home contents can be protected easily by paying a small premium each month.

Swinton offer competitive rates for both building and contents insurance. For the month of May, the average content insurance premium sold was Pounds Sterling 119.94 per annum.

Swinton has offered some tips for evaluating home contents:

--  Do not overlook anything, such as hoovers, mirrors, luggage, musical     instruments, expensive wine, flooring, camping equipment and exercise     equipment, which can be easily forgotten. --  Inform your insurer of any changes to the value of your contents     straight away i.e. if you buy a new TV or bike. --  Do not forget the contents in the garden such as sheds and tools, which     could be expensive to replace. --  Do not over-estimate your contents, as this could result in unnecessary     expensive premiums.

Steve Chelton, Insurance Development Manager at Swinton said, "Although contents insurance isn't compulsory and is seen as non-essential by many, it is still very important to protect your belongings from damage and theft. What seems like a saving now could be very costly in the long run.

(i)Daily Telegraph 02.06.10

About Swinton

--  With 580 branches nationwide Swinton is the UK's largest high street     insurance retailer --  Unlike many other companies in the financial services industry, Swinton     is committed to keeping its branches open for business, and part of the     community --  Swinton provides a one-stop-shop for the insurance and related needs of     its clients, offering home, car, caravan, business, holiday, motorbike     and even classic car insurance --  With a dedicated team of advisors on hand at every branch to search a     panel of insurers to offer quality cover at competitive rates.

Contacts:
SKV Communications
Anoushka Done, Anna Asamoah or Mairead Rodden
0161 838 7770
www.skvcommunications.co.uk/

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on 2:50 AM

Lloyd's estimates World Cup insurance coverage at £6.2bn

The football World Cup, will be insured to the tune of an estimated £6.2bn when it kicks off on Friday, according to Lloyd’s.
This is broken down into property - £3bn, contingency - £3 bn and liability - £200m.
Only war has prevented a World Cup taking place since the tournament's inception in 1930.
A player at the height of their career and playing in one of the top leagues for their country could be insured for £50m, according to Peter Thompson, underwriter at Beazley.
Assuming there are no pre-existing conditions, £40m of this insures their entire body for sports disability, including accidental death and permanent total disablement, 24 hours a day.
And it's not just their antics on the pitch that people are interested in. Lloyd's added a player's image can make or break their celebrity status and clubs need to insure their reputation as much as their feet to generate lucrative merchandise sales.
Dan Trueman, underwriter at Kiln, estimates a footballer's brand to be worth around £10m.
The stadiums have also been the subject of much scrutiny with major renovations having been carried out on five existing ones, and five new ones being built around South Africa to accommodate the 2.75 million ticket holders.
Brian Oxley, insurance manager for the organising Committee at FIFA, believes that the combined value for these stadiums and training venues amounts to £3.2bn.
But it's not just sport that needs to be considered, with businesses around the world heavily involved. Competitions and offers are springing up everywhere and when it comes to contingency, Chris Nash, active underwriter at Sportscover, said there is a vast range of potential coverage: "Competitions, offers, prizes, sponsorship, broadcast rights; it's impossible to know how many there are, but all companies with these financial implications need coverage.
"When you take this into account along with the number of broadcasters around the world airing the games, I'd probably estimate the whole thing at around £3bn."

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on 11:02 PM

'Absence of postmortem report no ground for rejecting claim'

An insurance company cannot reject a claim on the ground of absence of policyholder's postmortem report, a consumer court has said.

"In the absence of the postmortem report, the (personal accident insurance) claim could not have been repudiated," the Delhi District Consumer Forum, Central has said.

The Forum passed the order on a petition of the wife of a policy holder, who died in a train accident, seeking directions to the National Insurance Company to pay the claim along with compensation for causing harassment.

It noted that the insurance company did not look into the documents provided by Kamlesh, the wife of the deceased, but merely insisted upon the postmortem report.

"The documents placed on the file, were sufficient for the insurance company to believe the case of Kamlesh that her husband died in a train accident.

Therefore, non-passing of the claim so far, is deficiency in service. It has caused not only the financial losses but also harassment and mental agony to the widow of the assured," the forum bench, comprising president B B Chaudhary and member S R Agrawal, said.

The forum directed the insurance company to pay accidental insurance amount of Rs two lakh along with compensation of Rs 15,000 to the widow.

Ashok Kumar Srivastava, the policy holder died in 2004 after he fell from the train. The claim was repudiated by the company as his postmortem report was not submitted.

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